Another safety "enforcement blitz" was held last weekend on the South Side, where large crowds pack the bars around East Carson Street and parking spots are scarce. The city plans to continue doing this through St. Patrick's Day.

Pittsburgh police said 63 bars were inspected for occupancy levels, 270 traffic citations were issued, two people were arrested and 85 vehicles were towed on Friday and Saturday. The four-week total so far is 181 bar checks, 819 citations, 53 arrests and 250 tows.

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl has said that South Siders will see more roving DUI patrols on weekends, stricter towing and litter enforcement and police patrols in alleys to crack down on public drunkenness and urination.

"We're going to increase the deployment of building inspectors and firefighters who will be actively and aggressively cracking down on overcrowded bars that are violating our building codes," Ravenstahl said last month, when he announced the start of the blitzes.

All of these efforts fit closely with the recommendations of the Pittsburgh Sociable City Plan, a recent study of city nightlife and its neighborhood impact.

Some business owners or employees declined to go on camera, but many of the ones who did said they see unruly and often dangerous behavior every weekend and they have no problem with the new approach.

"It just makes it crazy around here when people come stammering through the doors from any of the 100 bars in the South Side," Over the Bar Bicycle Cafe employee Meg Greenlee said.

"I think the roving DUIs will be more help than anything else," Winghart's manager Carl Bailey said.

"I'm not sure how much the cops help, but I feel like if it's not going to hurt, we should at least give it a try and see if it helps the violence at the bars," resident Jhana Hawrylak said.

WTAE's Shannon Perrine reported that Jekyl & Hyde on South 18th Street was cited for exceeding occupancy during one of the "blitzes." John Jennings, the city's acting chief of building inspection, said in an email that code violations were found at Levelz (car blocking an exit and exit hardware not properly functioning) and Fat Head's (third exit through kitchen), and he said both of those establishments on Carson Street would be sent a notice to correct the violations.